The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has received a grant from the National Science Foundation that will allow students in grades 7-12 to attend a virtual cybersecurity summer camp in July for free.

The camp is held in partnership with Virtual Arkansas and the UA Little Rock Cyber Gym. They will host four sessions from 9-11:30 a.m. and 1-3:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday on July 6-9 and July 13-16. The afternoon camp from July 6-9 is full, but registration is available for the other three sessions.

“The camp will cover topics such as ransomware, mobile forensics, firewalls, and how to detect a cyberattack and what to do about it,” said Sandra Leiterman, managing director of the Cyber Gym. “Each day, we’ll have a guest speaker who will talk about cybersecurity careers in areas like information technology, government, and the FBI.”

Guest speakers will include Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, a member of the FBI’s mobile forensics team, a cybersecurity director for an Arkansas government agency, and a chief information security officer.

The camp will end with a hackathon where students will show off the skills they learned throughout the week. In order to participate, students will need a computer with reliable internet access, a school-affiliated email address, a headset with a built-in microphone, and a webcam.

The grant from the National Science Foundation also provides funding for the Cyber Gym to enhance undergraduate cybersecurity curriculum with security content, improve recruitment and retention of computer science and information technology students in the cybersecurity workforce, enhance faculty expertise in security competitions and skills, and increase students’ knowledge and skills in cybersecurity.

For more information and to register, fill out this form online.